Traveling creel assembly for beam warpers



Aug. l2, 1969 s. FURST 3,460,589 TRAVELING CREEL ASSEMBLY FOR BEAM WARPERS` I Filed Jan. 17, 1968' 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 /NVENTOR Aug. 12, 1969 s. FRST 3,460,689

TRAVELING CREEL ASSEMBLY FOR BEAM wARPERs Filed Jan. 17, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 12, 1969 s. FRsT TRAVELING CREEL ASSEMBLY FOR BEAM wARPERs 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. l?, 1968 United States Patent O Int. ci. Bssg 67/24,- Btsh 49/00 U.s. cl. 214-59 1o Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A creel assembly for beam warpers comprises a creel carriage which can be run into and out of its operative position by moving it on track rails. The traveling carriage cooperates with a doffer device composed of supporting columns which are `stationarily mounted on opposite sides of the track and carry stripper arms extending toward the creel mandrels to strip the residual yarn coils or empty cores off the mandrels as the carriage passes by. When the carriage reaches the position where the coils are to be replenished, all of the mandrels are thus cleared and ready to receive new coils.

My invention relates to traveling creel racks for supplying yarn to the beams of warpers or the like.

It is known to design the creel which carries the yarn supply cores for a beam warper as a traveling structure, the so-called creel carriage. For replenishing the exhausted cheeses or other coils of yarn, the creel carriage can be run out of the creel frame-generally containing the tensioners and any necessary guide members for the yarn. Such a creel carriage is known for example from the `German Patent 728,460. It serves to expedite the exchange of exhausted coils by permitting a second creel carriage, previously loaded with full coils, to be run into the creel frame as soon as the previously operating creel carriage has traveled away from the frame. It is known to further expedite the coil exchange by using automatic devices for severing the warp-beam threads from the old coils and then knotting these threads to the new coils. Although this largely automates the operations, it has remained necessary to manually remove the residual cores from the mandrels of the run-out creel carriage, including completely exhausted coils and hence empty coil cores, as well as coils that contain some remainder of yarn Inaterial. It also has remained necessary to place the new coils by hand onto the previously cleared mandrels of the creel.

The German Patent 522,353 describes a beam warper with a stationary creel rack in conjunction with doing devices which become active to strip the yresidual coils off the mandrels when the mandrels are moved from a working position to a special coil-replenishing position. Mechanisms for thus shifting the mandrels from the working position to a replenishing position are not necessary for, and not used with beam warpers equipped with a traveling creel carriage. For that reason the known doffer devices do no lend themselves for use with creel carriages but would require a considerable increase in mechanical equipment without appreciably reducing the time required for removing the residual coils.

It is an object of my inveniton to also provide, for -traveling creel carriages in beam warper and the like installations, an assembly which affords removing the residual coils or empty cores with a minimum of mechanisms and within a minimum of working time.

To this end and in accordance with a feature of my invention, I provide the traveling creel-carriage assembly with a doffer device which comprises a supporting struc- 3,460,689 Patented Aug. 12, 1969 ture at a fixed position along the travel path of the carriage and which has stripper members mounted on the before lthe creel carriage reaches the loading or replenishing station. Hence the attending personnel need only place the full cores onto the previously cleared mandrels of the creel carriage.

The individual stripper members of a doffer device according to the invention, when entering into proximity to the respective mandrels, as the creel carriage approaches `the doffer device, may perform a motion rela` tive to the mandrel and relative to the stationary support in order to thereby remove the residual coil or core from the mandrel; and such relativemotion maybe released, effected or controlled, for example, by cams, dogs or the like which during travel of the creel carriage act upon the stripper members by a suitable linkage or through an electromagnetic control circuit.

According to another feature of the invention, however, a considerable simplification is achieved by mounting the doffer device adjacent to the track of the creel carriage and utilizing only the carriage travel relative to the stationary doffer device for causing the residual coils or cores to be removed from the mandrels.

According to a more specific feature of my invention I prefer providing the doffer device with a number of stripper arms which are arranged on both sides of the carriage track at the respective heights of each horizontal line or level of mandrels and which extend substantially in planes parallel to the mandrel axes. Preferaby the arms are given a forward edge which catches like a wedge behind the coil core to be stripped so as to gradually urge the core to glide along the edge and off the mandrel as the carriage travels past the doffer device. The wedging or gliding edge may be constituted by a correspondingly curved wire or rod, or by a rather massive stripper arm.

Since the forces required for Iremoving residual coils and empty cores are largest at the beginning of the stripping operation, it is of advantage if the wedge angle of the glider edge gradually decreases in the direction toward the free end or tip of the stripper arm. The stripping operation then commences slowly and accelerates as it progresses.

The satisfactory operation of the stripper arms requires that the wedging angle remain below the limit which, at the particular friction obtaining between stripper and coil core, would cause self braking. On the other hand, a very small wedging angle would require a rather long stripper arrn Whose proper guidance would involve considerable difficulties. It is preferred, therefore, to give the gliding edge of the stripper arm the `shape of a curved line which is so shallow near the tip of the arm as to be approximately tangential to the travel direction of the creel carriage, and which, upon passing through a gradually increasing wedge angle from about 10 to about 45, converts to a substantially or entirely straight line.

It is known to provide a stop nose at the free end of each creel mandrel, the stop forming an abutment for the coil core to prevent its escape when the yarn is being pulled off the coil. For satisfactory dofiing of the cores despite the presence of such a stop nose, I have the stripper arms catch behind the respective cores on those mandrel sides that face away from the stop nose. With such an arrangement, the lever effect occurring during the stripping operation causes the front of the coil core to be somewhat lifted so that it can glide over the stop nose. The same effect can be achieved if the mandrel is equipped with a spring biasing the coil core on the mandrel into contact with the stop nose. The described lever action of, the.

stripper arm suffices to lift the front end of the core over the nose in opposition to the spring bias.

Since, as mentioned, the required doffing forces are largest at the beginning of the dofng operation, it is delsirable to reduce the forces and moments acting upon the holders of the stripper arms by preventing too many of the coils and cores in a level of mandrels to be stripped at the same time. Preferably, therefore, the stripper arms are displaced relative to each other in the travel direction of the carriage. The displacement preferably is such that each two stripper arms on opposite sides of the carriage operate simultaneously and commence their stripping operations ahead of the next pair of stripper arms acting on the ditferent level of mandrels.

The forces and moments acting upon the stripper are most favorable if the stripper arms engage the coil cores always at a predetermined locality. For securing stable operating conditions of such type, with the aid of a simple design of the entire assembly, it is further of advantage to provide for centering of the creel carriage when the doer device is active. According to a more specic feature of the invention, therefore, a centering guide engaged by the stationary doffer device is preferably mounted on the creel carriage above the uppermost line of mandrels.

The above-mentioned and further objects, advantages and features of my invention, said features being set forth with particularity in the claims annexed hereto, will be apparent from, and will be described in, the following with reference to an embodiment of a creel assembly for beam warpers illustrated by way of example on the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a lateral view of the creel carriage and the appertaining `stationary doter device;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the assembly;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the assembly;

FIG. 4 shows a detail of FIG. 1 on a larger scale;

FIG. 5 is a section along the line V-V in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a section along the line VI-VI in FIG. 4.

The illustrated assembly comprises a creel carriage 1 with a grid arrangement of horizontal mandrels 9, the arrangement forming vertical rows and horizontal lines or levels of such mandrels. Each mandrel is shown to carry a coil 2 of yarn. It is assumed that the creel carriage has been used for loading a warper beam and requires replenishing. That is, the coils 2 are presumed to be residual, being more or less depleted or being constituted by substantially empty cores. For simplicity they will all be hereinafter referred to as coils. The creel carriage has running wheels 3 with the aid of which the carriage travels on a track of rails 4. Referring to FIG. 1 it is assumed that the creel carriage has been run out of the stationary creel frame in the direction of the arrow 1a. The creel frame (not illustrated) defines the working position of the creel and contains such accessory means as yarn tensioners or guide rollers, guide pins and the like. Since such and other details are not essential to the invention proper, reference may be had to the abovementioned German patents or also to my U.S. Patents No. 3,317,979; No. 3,391,437 (Ser. No. 554,540 led June 1, 1966; No. 3,377,676 (Ser. No. 570,641 tiled Aug. 5, 1966); and No. 3,377,677 (Ser. No. 570,501 led Aug. 5, 1966).

The doffer device 5 for removing the coils 2 comprises a supporting structure 6 mounted on each side of the rail track and constituted by two upright columns which slant toward the arriving direction of the creel carriage. Each of the slanting columns 6 carries a number of stripper arms 7, one arm for each horizontal line or level of mandrels. The tips of the arms point from the outside toward the center of the trackway and are staggered on account of the inclination of the columns 6. Hence, as the carriage 1 travels past the doter device, the coils are sequentially engaged by the arms and stripped off the mandrels, beginning with the uppermost coils and progressing downwardly in each of the rows of mandrels.

As will be seen ,particularly ,from FIGS.. 4 to .6Mg1h stripper arm 7 is formed of a flat structure which extends substantially parallel to the plane of the mandrel axes. Each stripper arm 7 has a frontal edge 7a which catches like a wedge behind the coil core 8 due to the relative travel between the dofer device and the creel mandrels. As such relative travel proceeds, the edge wedges the core 8 away from its seat, and the core then glides `along the edge untilthe core is thrown olf the mandreLThe'Wedge angle a of the edge 7a relative to the travel direction of the carriage gradually decreases from the supporting column 6 (FIG. 5) toward the tip ofthe arm. As shown in FIG. 5, it is preferable to give the glider edge 7a the shape of a curved line which extends substantially tangential to the travel direction of the creel carriage at the tip of the stripper arm, and which after curving to a wedge angle a of approximately 30, or anywhere between l0 and 45, converts to a straight line.

The coil cores 8 are coaxially centered on the support,- ing mandrels 9x which are equipped with a stop nose 10 at the uppermost end. They nose prevents the coil from gliding off when the yarn is being unwound duringthe beam loading operation. A spring 11 (FIG. 6.) additionally biases the coil core 8 downwardly so that it will reliably abut against the nose 10.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the stripper arms 7 catch behind the coil cores 8 at the side of the mandrel 9 that lies opposite the stop nose 10. This has the effect of slightly lifting the cores at their frontal end in opposition to the force of spring 11, so that the cores can glide over the noses 10. Since during this stage of operation the force required for stripping the core 8 is largest, the wedge angle a is smallest in this particular range. A

In the illustrated embodiment the doffer device is mounted separate from the creel frame at a suitable place along the travel path of the carriage. For example, the tracks for the creel carriage may be provided with .a switch or side track on which the carriage just run out of the frame and containing residual coils, is passed by -a carriage which contains full coils and is being run into the frame. With such a track arrangement, the dolfer device is preferably so located that the creel carriage always travels in one and the same direction through or past the doifer device. This permits a fixed mounting of the stripper arms. If, however, the dolfer device is situated at a track place to be traversed in both directions by the carriage, for example at the end of the stationary creel frame, then the stripper arms must lbe so mounted that they do not impede the creel carriage when the carries full coils and is being run into the frame. This can be done by giving the stripper arms an elastic mounting. For this purpose the stripper arms 7 in the illustrated embodiment are pivotally joined with the columns 6. When the creel carriage 1 travels in a direction opposed to that indicated by the arrow 1a, the arms 7 can turn to the position 7 shown by broken lines in FIG. 5. Subsequently the arms 7 return to the starting position under the vaction of -a spring 7b, the return motion being limited by a stop 7c (FIG. 4).

It will be recognized that for permitting a simple costruction of relatively light weight while securing most favorable operational forces, the stripper arms 7 vshould always engage the coil cores 8 at predetermined localities. This is achieved by having the travel path of the creel carriage determined not only by the track rails, but also by a centering guide rail 1I mounted 0n the carriage above the uppermost line of mandrels. The guidel rail 11 is in gliding engagement with a straddle member 12 of the doffer device 5. To prevent obscuring of other parts, the upper portionof the doffer device comprising the rail 11 and the straddle member 12 is omitted in FIG. 2, the design and performance of these components being fully apparent from FIGS. 1 and 3.

As will further be seen from FIGS. 1 to 3, the dotted coils 2 drop upon inclined guide sheets 13 on which they roll or guide onto a conveyer belt 15 driven by a motor 14. The conveyer belt 15 transports the coils into a wheeled collection box 16 in which they are subsequently moved to the Winding shop in order to be cleared of desidual yarn or to be replenished with yarn. A guide sheet 13 and a conveyor 15 are mounted on each of the opposite sides of the rail track. The conveyers 15, however, are not needed if the floor beneath the guide sheets 13 is excavated sufficiently to permit placing the collecting box 16 directly beneath the guide sheets 13. In multiiioor plants, the coils may drop from the sheets 13 directly into the winding shop located on the iloor beneath. Furthermore, a collecting box 16 or the like may be eliminated by providing for conveying means which pass the coils directly to the winding shop; for example the conveyers 15 may be extended to suit this purpose.

It will be further understood that the processing of highly sensitive yarns may make it desirable to prevent an excessively large drop of residual cores, for example from the topmost line of mandrels, down onto the glide sheet 13, by providing several or all of the mandrel levels with respective guide sheets on which the doffed coils glide or roll onto the conveyer belt 15.

Upon a study of this disclosure, such and various other modications and variations of creel-carriage assemblies according to the invention Will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and it will be understood therefore that my invention may be given embodiments other than particularly illustrated and described herein, without departing from the essential features of the invention.

I claim:

1. A creel assembly for beam Warpers comprising a creel carriage having mandrels arranged in vertical groups and horizontal lines for coaxial engagement by respective tubular coil members, guide means detining a given travel path for said carriage, and a doier device having stripper means operable in positional dependence upon the travel of said carriage and engageable with respective coil members on said mandrels for clearing said mandrels during carriage travel.

2. In a creel assembly according to claim 1, said doier device comprising tWo upright supports mounted on opposite sides respectively of said travel path, said stripper means being formed of respective stripper arms extending from each of said supports toward said travel path at the respective heights of each line of mandrels.

3. In a creel assembly according to claim 2, each of said stripper arms extending substantially in a plane parallel to the mandrel axis and having a coil-stripping edge of wedge-shaped configuration so as to catch behind the coil member for engaging it at said edge when clearing mandrel.

4. In a creel assembly according to claim 3, each of said stripper arms having a free end at which said edge extends substantially parallel to the travel direction of said carriage, said arm having in said plane a shape tapering toward said free end.

5. In a creel assembly according to claim 4, said edge of said arms having the shape of a gradually curved line which extends substantially tangential to the carriage travel direction near said end and thence curves up to a wedge angle from about 10 to about 45 whereafter said line is substantially linear.

6. In a creel assembly according to claim 3, said mandrels having respective stops which near the mandrel tip protrude radially from one side of each mandrel for narmally retaining a coil thereupon, said stripper arms being located at the opposite side of said respective mandrels when in coil dofting position.

7. In a creel assembly according to claim 2, said stripper arms being staggered relative to each other in the carriage travel direction so as to operate sequentially.

8. In a creel assembly according to claim 1, said guide means comprising floor rails supporting said creel carriage, and top guide means located above the uppermost line of mandrels for centering said creel carriage relative to said dofer device.

9. In a creel assembly according to claim 8, said top guide means comprising a center rail member extending parallel to said oor rails in a vertical center plane of said carriage, and a straddle member engageable with said center rail, one of said two members of said top guide means being mounted on said carriage, and said other member being mounted in iixed relation to said doier device.

10. In a creel assembly acording to claim 9, said center rail being mounted on said creel carriage and having a length approximately corresponding to that of said carriage, said doter device comprising two supports stationarily mounted on opposite sides respecively of said iioor rails, each of said supports carrying a number of said stripper means, and said straddle member being disposed on top of said doffer device and fastened to said two supports.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,050,775 8/1936- Alderman 242--131.1 XR 2,961,822 11/1960 Prat 57-53 ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

